Everlasting Duties
by SonicTheEchidna
Summary: After Blaze defeated his mega evil, he resided in Ponyville with the pony of his dreams. But now, something is amiss. He must go to Equestria's alternate reality and defeat the mega evil with the help of another pony, Blood Moon. In cooperation with Productive faffer, we bring you Everlasting Duties!


All was well in Ponyville. Blaze was hanging out with his marefriend Twilight Sparkle, as well as Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Fluttershy. They were having a picnic discussing their recent events, and mostly talking about when the mega evil tried to invade their world. Blaze was also talking of another one of his adventures.

The little patter of a baby dragon's feet could be heard heading towards Blaze. The five ponies turned their heads to the source of the noise. Spike was holding a letter in his hands and it looked like he was desperate to get the letter to him.

"Blaze, Blaze" Spike yelled over to him between gasps for air. "I...need...you...to read...this..." Spike told him, handing Blaze the letter and falling on the floor to rest. Blaze opened the letter with his magic.

"What does it say?" Rainbow Dash asked, curious, looking over his shoulder while floating behind him. Blaze frowned as he read the letter.

"Dear Blaze, there is an important matter that you need to help me tend to. Meet me at my castle, and bring Twilight with you. Princess Celestia." Blaze read the letter out loud. _'Little vague...' _

"Why does she want me to come? Do you know what this is about?" Twilight asked him.

"Not sure. Probably some more stuff I gotta take care of that she can't do alone." He stroked his chin when he started to think of the possibilities. "You think it could be another mega evil?"

"Could be. I hope not, but it could be." Twilight said with a noticeable change of tone. _'__She hasn't gotten over that time when she died and I brought her back to life after I became stronger. I don't know if she'll ever get over it.' _I gently started to pet Twilight's mane to comfort her. She leaned into the offered comfort, accepting it with a small sigh.

"Well, we should probably get to Celestia. This seems urgent." Blaze gave the letter back to the baby dragon, still sprawled out on the ground, and Spike took it with an exhausted gulp for oxygen. Blaze stood up and so did Twilight.

"He's right, girls. We'll see you later" Twilight told them, with a slightly depressed tone in her voice that wasn't lost on any of them.

"Alright, dear. Just be careful, who knows what she could want you two to do" Rarity told them, expressing her concern for the magic user and the godlike pony. They both nodded their heads before galloping off to the library to prepare. "Spike," Rarity looked down at the young dragon. He looked up and seemed to have finally caught his breath. "Will you need help looking after the library?"

"Yeah, we can help you ya' know. If we're not too busy, that is" Rainbow Dash butted in.

"Nah, you don't have to go through all of that trouble. I've done it before. It's hard, but...I've done it before. Don't worry" Spike told them, refused their offer.

"Alright then, darling. Come now, Rainbow Dash, let's get back to our marefriends and help them work." Rainbow Dash nodded in agreement before zooming off toward Fluttershy's cottage, Rarity trotting towards Sweet Apple Acres.

* * *

Once the duo was at the castle doors, the guards instantly allowed them entry when they saw Blaze. In fact, they bowed to him. _'__Seriously, even the guards here treat me like a king? Wow!' _Blaze and Twilight trotted up a few levels until they were at the floor Celestia usually resides in. Once they got up there, she instantly greeted them.

"Hello Twilight Sparkle and you too Blaze" she greeted with a smile on her face. Celestia stood up from the chair she was sitting in and trotted up to them.

"It's always good to see you again, Princess" Blaze said before bowing to her. Twilight did the same but didn't say anything. "Now Celestia, why did you call me and Twilight here?"

Celestia took a deep sigh and Blaze knew that this answer was going to be bad.

"You have heard of alternate realities, correct?" Blaze frowned as she formed the question, searching his memory for everything he knew on the subject. As an Overlord he had extensive knowledge on this universe and knew plenty about all its respective realities; that said, he knew more about some than others.

"Yes, this universe has a few" he said, still in thought "I know this universe has a fair few but I only know details about a few, the one's most likely to be attacked by a mega evil that is." Celestia nodded.

"Very good, now, which do you know about?" Once more, Blaze put a hoof to his chin in thought.

"Well, there's the one where everything is the same except the genders are swapped; there's another in which that universe's Celestia became arrogant in her power and Luna was forced to banish her to the sun; a bunch where all the ponies in this universe are different creatures, like wolves or different stuff; then there's the one where all the ponies look similar to my human form; and one that seems exactly the same as this one except the presence of one form of magic."

"Good. Now, Blaze, that last reality you mentioned; you said it seemed similar, would you like to find out?" The Overlord frowned but shrugged and nodded nonchalantly, assuming it was a rhetorical question. Celestia smiled at his response. "Excellent, because I need you to go there." The duo's eyes opened in shock.

"Wait, what? You want me to go to an alternate reality? For what reason?" Blaze sounded shocked, but he wasn't as shocked as he thought he would be. _'__I guess I should have seen something like this coming sooner or later. It's not like I'll be the first Overlord to cross realties to fix a problem in another reality. Then again, it has been a while since the last time it happened.' _

"Blaze, a rare event is happening in that alternate reality. A second mega evil is coming to destroy us and he is taking a separate route to try a different approach. A more cunning one, stealthier one. One that could have caught us all of us off guard had I not found out about it, and one that not even you could stop it in time without taking proper precautions." Blaze started to get angrier at the words. He started to think out loud, replying to Celestia's response.

"No pony is going to hurt this realm. I'll do whatever it takes to make sure the citizens of Equestria are safe" Blaze declared, his tone and sprit full of confidence.

"I knew I could count on you. Alright, here is what you need to do. There is a portal that leads to the separate reality in this castle. It's the only portal in existence that can cross realties safely. I control both realities, so you can communicate with me at any time through telepathy if you need help with anything. But, there is one more instruction I must give you." Blaze perked up.

"What is that, Princess?" Blaze listened with focused ears and eyes. Twilight sat behind him, listening to the conversation with half dire worry for the one she loved and half interest and appreciation for what he had to; after the events of the first mega evil, she had come to see just how powerful Blaze really is, and just what being an Overlord entailed, with that she had come to see Blaze as a god on Celestia's level, maybe more so, but hearing about a creature of such power and cunning, a creature that could actually kill Blaze, made her shiver.

"Seek out the shadows" Celestia said it plainly. It wasn't lost on Blaze that she seemed to have a faraway look on her face as she said this, as though she was remembering something. It didn't change the fact that Blaze was confused.

"Seek out...the shadows? Are the shadows the mega evil or something, I don't get it."

"No, Blaze. The shadows are where you will find assistance on your journey." Blaze was still confused, but went along with it. _'__Maybe it's some kind of pony that can help me. What if...it's another Overlord? No, no, there's only one per universe, and I would know if another one entered this realm. I wonder who it could be...damnit, what's with all these vague instructions.'_

"Blaze!" Celestia snapped Blaze back into attention. He shook his head and quickly moved on.

"What, yeah I'm here. I'm ready, where is this portal?"

"Woah woah, slow down Blaze. There are a lot of things that you need to know before you set out on a random adventure that you know nothing about." He squeezed his eyes together and face-hoofed in an attempt to curb his enthusiasm.

"You're right. Okay, give me a briefing."

"Very well." Celestia started to pace slowly around the room they were standing in, Twilight and Blaze following her movements. "First off, what you said about this universe being identical to the other is…not quite accurate, there are a few differences: for one, the ponies in that reality aren't like us. They aren't as, oh how do you say, 'excitable' as we are." She let out a small giggle and Blaze let out a loud 'What?!'

"That must suck for them!"

"Indeed, but that's only one of a few differences. Next, in that reality, all of the Mane 6 are straight mares. They only look for stallions to love, not each other." Blaze digested the information, knowing it would be a little weird to not see Rainbowdash and Fluttershy sitting close together. That said; it would be nice to not walk in on them when they were about to get 'busy' every other day. Same with AJ and Rarity, then again, that wasn't a bad few hours locked in Rarity's changing room while she and the apple bucker expressed the love they totally didn't have for each other. For four, very, long hours. _'Best four hours lock in a changing room of my life.' _He frowned as his next thought entered his mind; he could be thinking too deeply about this but with the way Celestia had only said 'love' he wondered what they did with their lust.

"Got it. Anything else?"

"There is one other thing, but that is something you must figure out for yourself after seeking out the shadows, like I told you to." Blaze started to get disappointed with these generalized instructions. _'__I need to go find and kill another mega evil, and she's having me solve these ridiculous puzzles, I mean, would it kill her to say; 'hey Blaze, there's a mega evil in the back room, do me a favor and kill it will you, and when you're done you, me and Twilight can get to know each other a little better, if you know what I mean. I just don't get her sometimes.'_

"Alright, is that all?"

"It is."

"Then, can I have a moment with Twilight before I go to this reality?" Blaze asked. Celestia nodded and trotted out of the room. Blaze turned around to see that Twilight was sitting there, thinking all of this through.

"Celestia never told me that there was an alternate reality...how could she just tell you even though you have only been here for a ye-mmph!" Twilight was cut off when Blaze smashed his lips into hers, instantly pushing his tongue into her mouth rather roughly. She welcomed the rough kiss with a moan. Blaze quickly pulled away.

"I'm gonna miss you. But I'll be back, you know that right?"

"Of course I do, Blaze. You wouldn't leave me, right?"

"Of course not, I'll never leave you!" Celestia walked back into the room.

"Are you ready, Blaze?"

"Yes. Show me this portal please." Celestia walked to the wall behind her, a seemingly normal and random wall, and used a beam of magic. A portal was instantly revealed. "Wow, nice hiding spot."

"Thank you Blaze. But I must say, remember your mission and if you need any guidance, feel free to ask me."

"Will do, goodbye Twilight." Blaze walked up to Twilight and kissed her again, this time ignoring Celestia's gaze on them. He pulled back and walked up to the portal. He looked back at Twilight. She had a serious look on her face and nodded.

"Oh, Blaze, I feel it's only fair to tell you that the shadows you seek…may not be what you expect" she tells him. Again Blaze frowns. _'May not be what I expect? You've given me nothing to work with to even make any assumptions. What did I think of to begin with; another Overlord? What, whoever, or whatever, I'm supposed to meet isn't good? Nah…Celestia wouldn't steer me wrong.' _Besides him, Celestia sighs to herself, making Blaze curious. He taps into her mind and listens to her thoughts.

"_I do hope he'll help Blaze. I of all ponies know just how…volatile that stallion can get when anypony gets on his bad side. I hope for Blaze's sake he doesn't do so." _Celestia noticed his hesitation.

"Go Blaze, we'll be waiting for your return" her assurance was all Blaze needed. In the next second, he walked through the portal and just like that, he was gone.

Blaze was finally starting to stir awake. His vision was blurry at first but after a minute it cleared up. He sat up and looked at his surroundings. He was close to the Everfree Forest, maybe somewhere close to Fluttershy's cottage. He turned his head to where he thought Ponyville was. And there it was. At the sight of it he couldn't help but frown; he'd heard the stories of fellow Overlords traveling to other realties through their dimensions, the stories tended to revolve around the fact that they were exceedingly dissimilar, some of them were nothing like the ones they had come from, but others, like this one apparently, were very similar. The thing that got him was that it seemed identical.

"It all looks the same" he said as he started to walk to the town. As he got there, he saw all the familiar faces; there was Lyra and Bon-Bon, Lyra still sitting in a way that disturbed the Overlord; Berry Punch, owner of the only liquor store in Ponyville; Doctor Whooves, the only pony to look at him twice and did so with a knowing grin; and Rose, one of Ponyville's resident florists. He then made the mistake of running into Pinkie Pie, though she treated him like he was new here.

"Hitheremyname'sPinkiePieIhaven'tseenyouaroundhere before,what's your name?" Pinkie asked Blaze, all in one breath.

"Name's Blaze. Nice to meet you" Blaze openly greeted Pinkie who beamed with excitement.

"Oooh, since there's a new pony in town we need to throw a party! We can have decorations and-" Blaze stuffed his hoof into Pinkie's mouth.

"Please, I would rather like to not be that popular right now" Blaze said before yanking his hoof out of Pinkie Pie's mouth and beginning to walk away. But before he could, however, Pinkie zoomed into his vision, pleading.

"Oh come on, it'll be so much fun! Pleeeeease?!" Pinkie asked, almost in tears. Blaze rolled his eyes; he'd been treated to one of Pinkie's famous parties after the whole mega evil business back in his own realty. It had been fun but he had a job to do now. _'Ugh, I don't have time for this' _Blaze thought before casting a simple invisibility spell, nothing too advanced, just enough to fool Pinkie, and galloping away. "Huh? Where'd he go? Oh well." Pinkie's face returned to her normal happy self and kept bouncing along happily. Blaze, on the other hoof, kept walking around Ponyville, invisible to the naked eye. He couldn't drop the sensation of being watched tough, but he became confused when he heard a deep, dark voice talking to him.

"Who are you" the voice called out, it was simple and to the point, but also very demanding. Blaze was confused. He looked at his own hooves and realized that he was still invisible. "I can see you easily idiot. That's an amateur level invisibility spell, an insult to alicorn magical ability, you cast a shimmer where you stand, invisible to the untrained but my eye is far from untrained" the voice explained.

"Alright, where are you" Blaze demanded, wanting an answer, and this time, he would use his Overlord's magic to track the voice to its owner.

"Everywhere and nowhere, kid." Bingo. He looked up and to his right, and saw a figure standing there, using the cover of..._shadows?' How can he be using shadows to-!' _Blaze remembered back to when Celestia told him to 'seek out the shadows' for assistance.

"I see you up there." Blaze said before jumping up there like it was nothing, meeting eye-to-eye with the pony, how had dropped his spell. He had very dark fur color, as it resembled the nighttime. '_And that mane and tail...it almost looks like it absorbs the darkness around it, not catching any light.' _The mystery pony had blood red eyes, as if his iris was bloodshot. Blaze took a long time to take in the pony's features, as he knew this figure was going to be important.

The mystery pony did the same. '_Gray fur, fiery mane and tail, and an alicorn, why would an alicorn be here? That doesn't make sense. Only princesses, gods and goddesses can become alicorns, unless_...'

"What's your name? I'm Blaze." Blaze introduced himself to the pony, wanting an answer.

"Blood Moon." The question of the pony's name was put to rest. The tone in his voice was very dark and terrifying to any average pony, but to Blaze, it didn't move him at all.

"Nice to meet you, then." He offered his hoof and Blood Moon looked down at it with a weird sense of suspicion but hesitantly took it, accepting the hoof shake. Afterwards, Blood Moon looked into Blaze's eyes. They were dark red, almost blood red like Blood Moon's, but not quite.

"Your eyes..."

"What about them?" Blaze asked him.

"They are full of ambition, like you want to know something and you won't stop until you do." He narrowed his eyes. "You want me to tell you something. What do you want to know from me?"

"Celestia sent me here because something called a 'mega evil' is coming to destroy this reality and move on to mine. I'm here to aid you in defeating it." Blaze told Blood Moon with a hint of pride.

"A...mega evil" he repeated with a bemused grin on his face that Blaze found very insulting. "Never, in my life, have I heard of that."

"Not surprising. You've only been living for about, what..." Blaze looked at him and took a guess. "Twenty five to thirty years maybe? Not that long." At that, he heard a bemused grunt from Blood Moon. "What's so funny?"

"You never judge a book by its cover, kid. I'm much, MUCH older than thirty years." Blood Moon looked at Blaze with that same bemused smirk half hidden by his gear. Only then did Blaze notice what he was wearing. A classic assassin's robe and hood, complete with belt and weapons.

"Wait..." Blaze forgot his recent topic. "You're an assassin?"

"Yes" he said simply, and in a manner way too casual for Blaze's liking. Blaze was taken aback by this.

"But, why would you go and kill other ponies for money?" Blood Moon thought for a good two seconds before answering confidence and self-certainty that both disturbed and enraged the Overlord.

"Because A), that's how I got by, and B), some ponies out there are too corrupted to live in this world, and I make sure that they don't spread that corruption."

"But doesn't that make you corrupt as well? You're a serial killer." Blaze stuck out his hoof on the last two words for emphasis. The assassin just smirked at him. _'This guy is really getting to me with that damn SMIRK.'_

"Look, kid. I don't care what you think of me; I've been called murderer, assassin, artist, black-operator and, yes, serial killer. I don't care what you think of me because I don't care about you. Besides which; I don't do that kind of thing anymore, not after the incident with Twilight..." Blaze's ears perked up at the sound of Twilight and Blood Moon noticed.

"Incident?"

"Save that for another time" Blood Moon quickly disrupted the subject, which made Blaze curious. "So, what are you? At a guess somepony important… some type of god maybe, considering you're an alicorn?"

"Actually, I'm an Overlord."

"Overlord" he repeated, confusion in his voice. He stroked his chin in thought. "I've lived a long time, and never have I heard of such a thing. I can tell that you're no noble, but you don't strike me as royalty either. And before you say anything, I've met a lot of them and I know them, practically by sent by now, considering I've been working for and with them for most of my life." Only Blood Moon currently knew how big the time frame of "my life" was.

"I am the protector of this universe. I am immortal, and can do almost anything I want, but it drains energy."

"An immortal?" He looked into his eyes and saw the truth behind them. "Huh...I guess that makes two of us." Blood Moon finally admitted his deepest secret, with a casual shrug.

"Wait what? How can a pony besides me be-"

"I've been cursed with immortality, you moron."

"How's that a curse? I'm Immortal and I see it as a blessing." The assassin shook his head like a moron child had just tried to correct him.

"Then you haven't been alive long enough, kid."

"You're wrong, I can always protect Twilight and Equestria, and I'll be here to see history for myself-"

"As well as watch all of those you love die around you, and be forced to live with all your mistakes. Life and living, isn't all it's cracked up to be, kid."

"You're just pessimistic; you can't see all the great things you can do with everlasting life."

"And you can't see all the bullshit that comes with it. You haven't had your heart broken beyond repair or had to watch your great grandchildren die of old age. I'll say it again kid, you're nothing but a child in my eyes; you may be some kind of all-powerful god, but you're still just a foal in my eyes." Blaze paused as he watched the dark stallion trot away from him, leaving him in the dust and jumping off the roof. He was beginning to like this assassin less and less the more he got to know him.

'_But..._the godly pony thought..._he's right. Everything good that comes with immortality has a bad side. I will have to see ponies and the ones I love die besides me, and I'll live on forever. But...I need to do this. For Equestria. _Blaze thought to himself. _Where should I go next? I should get to learn more about this alternate universe.' _Blaze flew up in the air and started to fly around Ponyville before deciding on paying Applejack a visit.

While Blaze was flying through the air, looking down at the ponies below, he couldn't help but to feel a sense of excitement and anxiety. Maybe it was because he enjoyed the ponies in this universe, except for one…

Blood Moon…

It wasn't just the way Blood Moon talked to Blaze, it was everything; just how he looked gave off the aura that says 'stay away, unless you want your throat slit'. His voice could instantly churn the sanity of any pony. Blaze didn't know why, but he saw Blood Moon as a threat. He didn't want to fight him though. Blaze is a defender, and he doesn't go around picking fights.

His thought process immediately stopped when he saw a purple unicorn below him. He thought of his universe and thought of how his Twilight was doing. He decided to drop down and give a quick "hi" to this Twilight. He swooped down gracefully, about to land, before he noticed another dark figure approach her from a side street. He was only about ten feet above them when he saw the pony he currently dreaded the most. Blood Moon. He landed anyway.

"Hey Blood Moon. What's up?" Blaze said with a cocky grin, knowing that he was potentially gonna piss Blood Moon off. An audible growl of aggravation was heard from the dark pony in front of him. Blood Moon and Twilight turned around in sync.

"What are you doing here?" Blood Moon asked.

"Just thought I would, maybe, say hi to this lovely mare in front of me." Blaze said with a bow. "What might your name be?"

"Oh…" Twilight smiled and blushed at Blaze's charm. "M-My name's Twilight Sparkle." Blaze looked up and made eye contact.

"Twilight Sparkle...very fitting for you, especially those eyes." Before Blaze could continue flirting, he noticed Blood Moon cock his head at the situation; it confused the Overlord that he wasn't stepping in, more just observing. He decided to see how long it would last. "Such, beautiful eyes" he murmured, kissing her hoof.

"Did you just come here to flirt with my wife, or are you here to do something productive?" Blaze was taken aback by what he had called Twilight.

"Wait...wife?!"

"Yes, Twilight is my wife. We have been married for a while now, but I don't believe it's any of your business." Blood Moon narrowed his eyes and started to lean closer to Blaze to hold an intimidating yet defensive ground. Blaze merely chuckled at the sight.

"Why so serious, Moon? I was just trying to make conversation with her. After all, I am new here."

"If you wish to flirt with her, I trust her not to do anything she wouldn't want to do, but I'd appreciate you refraining from doing so in my presence." Blaze shot him a smirk.

"Maybe I don't want to wait until you're gone" he said before he turned properly to Twilight. "How a Grinch like him managed to get somepony like you, I'll never know." Twilight blushed again, but stepped away from him.

"Listen, I'm very, VERY, flattered but Blood Moon is the only stallion for me" she said. Blaze raised an eyebrow.

"Really, you're sure? I could show you a good time you know." Blood Moon took this as his cue to step in, pushing Blaze away from Twilight.

"She said she isn't interested, act on that information and leave" he ordered, sounding like he'd been wanting to say this for a while.

"Ooooh he's getting pissed, should I push this further?

...

I should.'

"Oh yeah, and what are you gonna do if I don't?" Blaze narrowed his eyes and leaned in towards Blood Moon, giving off an equally intimidating ground. He started to read Blood Moon's mind.

"Who the buck is this?!"

"Wha-!" Before Blaze could listen any further, he felt a hoof make sharp contact with his lower left jaw, sending him back. His hooves slid against the ground for a couple of feet.

"My mind is the last place you wanna be, kid." Blaze was dumbfounded but quickly retaliated. He jumped forward and started to gain a red aura around him. After he finished calling upon his combat magic, he teleported, mere inches away from Blood Moon's face. He lay in wait for the moment to strike, one of the same tactics Blood Moon uses to fight his opponents.

"Blood Moon, stop!" Twilight yelled behind the assassin as she cantered over to them. Blood Moon and Blaze kept at it, throwing strikes and trying to break through each other's defences, Blood Moon using his magic to push twilight away from them.

"No way!" Blood Moon had turned his head around to respond.

'Bingo.'

Blaze seized his chance, charging at Blood Moon and struck his left fore-hoof into Blood Moon's abdomen, knocking the wind out of said assassin. Before he could cough, Blaze emitted extreme force into his stomach, throwing him into the wall of a nearby building. He threw up his lunch before standing back up. He looked up with a dark grin on his face as he wiped the exes puke from his maw. His horn started to glow a dark grey, almost black and he started casting magical bolts at Blaze, keeping him at bay. Blaze absorbed most of the spells into his outstretched hoof, catching them and crushing the energy in his hoof. The assassin fired a particularly strong spell, the Overlord catching it and and looking down at the power in his hoof. When he looked back up, he found that Blood Moon was no longer stood in the shadows; with a frown he looked around, charging his horn and taking a few steps to the left and right as he searched.

'Coward must have run for it.'

He felt a sharp pain in his side as the thought crossed his mind, making him stumble to the side and almost fall over. He looked to his back and found a burn mark in his side, an energy bolt had hit him from somewhere to his left. He looked around, trying to find the assassin; he couldn't see him anywhere, not the roofs, not the trees, not the shadows not even the-

"Eyes open" he roared as he burst from the ground in a hail of dirt and rocks, Blaze stumbled back a little and felt a hoof slam into his muzzle, then his jaw. He stumbled back again and found himself on his flank before he managed to roll onto his hooves again. Blood Moon shot another strike that Blaze caught in his own, twisting his leg in an attempt to break it. What Blood Moon did next surprised him; he leapt up and over his own fore-hoof, still in Blaze's grip, and landed on his hooves before he took the Overlord's own leg and flipped him back, reversing the attack. Taken by surprise, Blaze couldn't react in time, and found himself on his back again. He spread his wings, that sweet ember effect going off again, and took flight. Before he could get very high, he saw a…a sort of…shadow serpent? It snapped at him, hungry for his hide, and was about to rip him in half before the alicorn wrapped his tail around it and burned it, burned it through his fiery tail and watching it squeal and writher until it fell down, very dead. He looked down again; Blood Moon was gone again. He growled in frustration, and looked around again; he saw twilight watching her husband fight with a stallion she'd just met, and for no real reason. She could only put it down to his short fuse. Meanwhile, Blaze was still searching; he was careful to stay off the ground, knowing that the damned assassin could burrow through the ground, but he still couldn't find him. He looked below him, deciding it safe to land; as he got close to the ground, he felt a deep pain in his gut and was thrown by an invisible force, landing, once again, on his back. He blinked in confusion before he figured out what had happened; he'd hidden in his own shadow. Blaze looked up, growling again; this stallion wasn't fighting strait, wasn't fighting him face to face.

"Fight like a stallion" he roared, enraged with the dark stallion. He just grinned and stood silently.

"What, fight fair? Honourably? There's no such thing as fighting fair kid" he taunted. Blaze just growled again, charging up a damaging magic in his hoof, Overlord magic, ready to end this fight and walk away.

'I knew he was a threat the second I talked to him.' Blaze thought.

'I knew I'd bucking hate this kid.' Blood Moon thought.

They started to move closer to each other, eyes completely focused on their enemy in blind fury. Blaze had focused his magic in his hoof, a fierce, red glow dancing around it, while Blood Moon had drawn his blade, holding it his magical grip. Meanwhile, Twilight was watching the scene in horror, trying to get them to compromise.

"Stop, there shouldn't be any fighting; we're all friends here" she yelled, almost in tears. Her friends, the rest of the Elements, had overheard her shouting and the sounds of battle; they ran up to see what was wrong. While she had been trying to get them to stop, Blood Moon and Blaze had charged, and thrust their respective weapons.

"Twilight" all five mares had yelled. But it was too late. When they arrived, Twilight had run in the middle of Blaze and Blood Moon right before they were going to strike each other. Instead of hitting each other, they had struck her in the head and stabbed her in the neck with their attacks. They were both knocked back and the only thing they could do was watch as Twilight became limp and dropped onto the ground. The elements all shouted in harmony once more. "Twilight!" They all ran up to her while Blaze and Blood Moon watched in horror.

"W-What have we done?" Blaze looked at Blood Moon and he looked back. Blood Moon snapped his gaze up from Twilight's corpse to the Overlord, snarling like an animal as he approached. Fluttershy grabbed his hoof and held it to her chest.

"B-Blood Moon, what happened" she asked, tearfully. The assassin immediately fell from his rage as he looked at the butter yellow mare, tears in her eyes. He looked at Twilight once and almost broke down; he sat beside her and wrapped her in a hug she cried into as he looked over her shoulder at the body.

"I...I…" Blood Moon expression was one that Blaze had not seen yet. It was melancholy. Blaze had seen Blood Moon to be the type of person that didn't care if he had killed somepony. But this pony was his wife. He quickly got up and ran up to her, the elements of harmony besides him, and laid down at her side. "Twi...Twilight?" Blood Moon asked in a shaky voice. Blaze was still watching, standing there motionless as the ponies in front of him all started to visibly tear up.

'I...This isn't right. I want to leave this sight, but...I can't leave them like this.'

Blaze started to slowly step toward his target. His eyes started to glow white. Blood Moon shot up and gripped his sword again, but Blaze simply slammed his hoof into his chest and sent him flying.

"Move" he commanded. Before anypony else could object, he walked in between a now crying Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash. He looked towards the twenty percent cooler pegasus.

'Even the cool and awesome Rainbow is breaking down...but that's understandable.' He looked back to the dead pony. 'I can't just reveal my powers, but...I have to.' He looked at Twilight's corpse and imagined it being the dead body of the pony he loved back in his reality. After he finished his thought process, his white eyes got brighter and brighter. The other ponies noticed and quickly stepped away, wondering what he was about to do with Twilight's corpse. Blaze's hands started to glow with a green aura, one that seemed comforting to the touch. He got further down, to Twilight's level, and laid his two hooves on her neck and cutie mark. Bit by bit, he channelled his energy through her, finding her soul and binding it back to her. Her injuries started to heal up one by one, and her crushed head was reforming, as well as all the bits of gore coming back to her, while the hole in her neck slowly reformed as the blood flowed back into her. After about ten seconds, it was time to finish the process. There was a bright flash of light and when every pony could see again, a beautiful purple mare stood before them, with a new embodiment and personality of rejuvenation. They looked at her in disbelief. Blaze could understand that but he did not want to stay around for the rest. Before the ponies could turn around to ask what the hay was going on, he was gone. Blood Moon stumbled back to the scene of the battle, blood dripping from his snout.

"Where, where is that bastard" he growled as he staggered over to Twilight. He looked at her, standing; alive…he lunged at her, wrapping his hooves around her as he landed on her. The mare squealed as she fell on her back.

"Blood Moon, what's got into you" she asked playfully as he planted kisses all over her face.

"I guess you could say I just saw a ghost" he said. Twilight giggled before her memorise came back to her.

"B-Blood Moon" she said as he leaned back to look in her eyes "did I just die?" Blood Moon didn't answer for a while, instead he looked up at where he'd last seen the alicorn…Blaze wasn't it?

"Welcome to the club" he said absentmindedly.


End file.
